Pages

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Dining @ Wong Ah Wah, Jalan Alor, Kuala Lumpur

When ever visitors from afar visit us in Kuala Lumpur, this particular place ends up being the first of the many food stops we take them on. These chicken wings have become iconic as THE food item you must eat whenever you visit at Jalan Alor. It's so famous that Zak Pelaccio who used to work at Seri Melayu restaurant in Jalan Conlay had recreated this in his famous restaurant, Fatty Crab in New York. Known simply as Jalan Alor Chicken Wings on his menu, it's said to be dark and sticky. There's even a recipe to re-create his version on the Food and Wine website. I absolutely love these juicy chicken wings as they have a smoky flavour to them. Combined with a slightly sweetish marinade, it's definitely finger licking good.

Although Wong Ah Wah is famous for chicken wings, they also serve cooked food or "tai chow" dishes. Since it's kinda rude to just order the chicken wings, we usually order a few dishes. Seafood is always a good pick here so try their lala dishes. They do a good fried Kam Heong lala with a slight sweetish and spicy sauce filled with curry leaves for extra flavour.

Another interesting dish is the Bamboo Lala. Shaped like a piece of bamboo, this shellfish is fried with a thick soy sauce and oyster sauce combination. I thought the sauce for this was quite bland and probably needed more spices to jazz it up a bit.

Last but not least, one must eat our vegetables to be healthy. We ordered a plate of sweet potato leaves fried with garlic. This was not bad as one did not feel too guilty eating this versus a whole plate of chicken wings. With our tummies half filled, we strolled down Jalan Alor to search for more food.

(Non Halal. Restaurant is at the end of the road which is opposite Nova Hotel.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tried few times as i heard is very famous. But for me is not that nice. I still prefer the one at my place, Menjalara where the skin is still crispy and super hot chilli, even is spicy but u will tend to take more chilli.

Went there for a Lou Sang last year. OMG bad service, bad foods. From that on, won't go there for 'tai chow' alr.

chicken wings!..once u start u cant stop rite..this area is seriously full of food is not funny..i woke up with an idea..kind of lame..i want to do a full review of this whole area alor/tengkat tong shin/changkat bukit bintang called the top 3 dishes..whereby we try every single place for their top 3 recommendations..u reckon possible ar? spread over a month maybe?

adrian - wow, those chicken wings in Menjalara sound really good. Pray tell where it is as I must go check it out one day!

joe - sounds like an interesting idea but it will definitely take time. One thing I notice is these stalls have funny little rules. For instance, you need to order more than chicken wings but really their chicken wings is the only exceptional item here.

team bsg - I only discovered these yummy wings when Bee Yinn came down to KL for CNY! as I rarely venture here. BUT must admit the wings are really good stuff.

BBO - you're rite as it's more of a tourist hangout since most of them stay around this area. I used to think these chicken wings are all hyped up and for tourists only until I tasted them and I really liked them.

LL - think one just park at those paid places and walk as the traffic is so chaotic here since the stalls take up half of the road!

ling239 - hee hee, now I feel like having some as they're really yummy.

I also haven't tried yet.Jalan Alor so jam lah...:((Seems to be votes from both side of the fence about whether the chicken wings are nice or just plain overrated but I still wanna taste it so that my taste buds can decide.....)

oooh, this is very deja vu leh. its almost the same stuff we had when we first met up with rasa malaysia. of course, those wings have a special place in mah heart, coz that's where i also first met dear lyrical lemongrass.

Sure no prob. But how i inform u. via email or here.Actually do u know Menjalara, Steamboat area? That 'Yang Yang Hao', there have 2 chicken wings stalls. One is BEST one is SO SO. I will confirm with u the exact location of the BEST one as usually is my bro or sis dabao back. :D